Articles about Google

I recently vented my frustration at Hangouts and Google, but today I am extremely elated. Google has released a true Chrome desktop application for Chrome. It runs outside your browser, and you get a pin-able icon in your app drawer so you are not forced to open up Chrome.

But most of this could be handled by the Hangouts extension they had previously, so what's the difference? This one doesn't suck. It actually takes advantage of being outside of the browser and has a great workflow.

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Continuing its run at the top of the charts, Apple is revealed as the most valuable brand in the world. With a massive 21 percent increase over the last 12 months, Apple is now valued at just under $119 billion -- almost double that of Microsoft which finds itself in fifth place with a value of just over $61 billion.

The top 100 rankings have been published by Interbrand, and a number of familiar names from the world of tech are to be found in the top 20. Google's value jumped by 15 percent from last year to $107 billion, and the search giant remains in second position.

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When Google first launched the new compact compose window in Gmail, many of you might have noticed something annoying about inserting images.

One of the greatest Gmail features has been drag and drop. But if you drag an image into the compose window it is inserted inline. This is less than optimal for two reasons. One, if you want to write an email and insert many images, you probably don't want them inline as it ruins the reading experience. Two, inline images are very static and you can't manipulate them: you can't zoom in or see the pictures in a full window view, and you also can't easily save them to either Google Drive or your computer as you can with attachments.

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A year ago Google released project Babel. The search giant shared with us a grand vision of a unified and improved messaging and video platform. This vision started becoming reality with Google Hangouts. But in classic Google fashion, it was never finished.

Before Hangouts, there was Google Talk. And it was great. It was simple, and to the point. You could use it in third-party applications, it worked in your Gmail, and complaints were hard to come by. However, Google had been working on Google+ and that also had a chat -- one that was not compatible with Talk. So, Google promised unification; and when the users of Talk looked at their perfectly working service, and then back at Google skeptically, Google promised an unrivaled experience across platforms.

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There seems to be no place the intrepid Google Street View team will not go. From oceans to canyons, the team has tackled everything. The latest location is the sands of the United Arab Emirates, a rather desolate place for any person.

You won't need to ride a camel to make your trip to the Liwa Desert, as you can see it all from the comfort of your seat. Google has already braved sand storms and unbearable heat to bring you the images.

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The "right to be forgotten" is something that was expected to take Europe by storm. A court ruling gave people the right to get in touch with search engines like Google and Bing to ask that results relating to them be removed -- assuming they are "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant". One of the services that popped up after the ruling was Forget.me, making it simple to submit removal requests.

Three months down the line, we have access to the first set of figures relating to requests, and they show that social networks are the most affected type of website.

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There are award shows for everything nowadays, celebrating actors, athletes and more. However, computer nerds do not get the credit they deserve; we should get an award show too, right? Hell, they should give out trophies for fixing family members' computers. I have spent hours at my Uncle Roy's smelly house removing malware, only to leave with not so much as a thank you.

Don't worry though, Google cares about your nerdy endeavors -- if it helps the Chrome browser, that is. You see, the search giant is increasing the maximum bounty for finding bugs in the browser to $15,000. While money is awesome, the recognition may be equally cool, as your name may be added to the Google Hall of Fame!

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At the airport, it's normal to see customer service staff equipped with phones, walkie-talkies and perhaps a tablet. Passengers travelling to and from Scotland who pass through Edinburgh airport will soon find that they are greeted by staff adorned with Google Glass. Google's wearable specs are to be trialled in the Scottish airport in a bid to provide more help and information to travelers.

Customer support representatives will be able to call up flight details and answer queries using the head-mounted Android-powered hardware.

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Google is trying to grow its budding operating system platform, continually updating and enhancing features. Customers can now work in certain environments offline, for instance. But what lacked was some of the core features of rivals Windows and OS X. However, that slowly changes as well.

Photo editing, for instance, was one feature that, while not absent, certainly wasn't top of the line. Until now you had to rely on an app such as Pixlr, which many Chromebook customers use. But Google today announces that Photoshop is arriving, though not (at least yet) offline.

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Your browser's misbehaving? It's a common problem, and you've probably got your own quick fixes: delete the cache, scan for malware, remove the last add-in you installed, whatever it might be.

Now Google is offering a little extra assistance with Chrome Software Removal Tool (CSRT), a Windows beta which scans for programs known to cause problems with Google Chrome and offers to remove them.

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Apple and Google do not want the US Government to be able to access your private data, even when search warrants are involved. It's a bold stand they're taking, which has been applauded by privacy advocates and, quite probably, criminals as well. But, guess what? That does not sit well with the authorities. FBI Director James Comey is troubled by the idea that the all-mighty agency that he runs can be stopped dead in its tracks when trying to see your intimate photos, videos and whatnot. Imagine that.

Here's what the fuss is all about. If encryption is turned on, the encryption key, that is needed in order to access the data that is stored on an Android or iOS 8 device, is in the user's control, instead of Google's or Apple's. As such, this allows the companies to be unable to comply with search warrants. It's clever: you can't give what you don't have.

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A week ago, in a letter to the European Commission, News Corps complained that Google is a 'platform for piracy' with 'cynical management'. Today, having gathered together its ammunition, Google responds with a letter of its own. Although News Corp's letter was signed by CEO Robert Thomson, Google's reply starts with the salutation "Dear Rupert" -- addressing CEO Rupert Murdoch -- and the search giant picks apart the complaints levelled at it. One of New Corp's key complaints centered around the idea that Google is riddled with pirated material, and "unlawful and unsavory content", and this is one of the first ideas that Google shoots down.

Countering accusations of being a platform for piracy, SVP Global Communications, Rachel Whetstone, points to the 222 million copyright infringing websites that were delisted last year. The existence of copyright protecting ContentID technology to help detect infringing footage on YouTube is also cited, as is efficiency in weeding out inappropriate contents such as sexual images of children.

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It's important for any business to establish an online presence, and this is certainly true in emerging markets. It's something recognized by Google, and the company is teaming up with Endurance International Group to help SMBs in Africa and Southeast Asia to launch online ventures.

Google's reputation online precedes it, but Endurance might not be a name that's overly familiar. The company provides hosting, and the new partnership with Google is set to benefit businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Indonesia and Malaysia.

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New Gmail users will no longer have to sign up to Google's flagging social network Google+, after two and half years of mandatory social account creation. Users previously had to sign up to Google+ when signing up for Gmail, Google Docs and variety of other Google products.

Whilst the company still encourages users to sign up for Google+ it now has a "No thanks" button when offering the service during the sign up procedure for its products.

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Turning on data encryption can make a huge difference in case your Android device is lost or stolen, as it will make it extremely difficult -- if not impossible -- for a third-party to access your files. It also gives you quite a bit of time to remotely wipe your device, which means that your photos, videos, texts and whatnot have a better chance of remaining private.

And if the local authorities want to take a peek, they are also out of luck -- it's good news for those involved in criminal enterprises, and others as well. All this sounds great from a privacy and security standpoint, except that encryption has never been enabled by default in Android. But that is soon about to change.

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